Either the big guns will get you or I'll load up the trike with Talibanfan and pay you a visit.

Thursday, 7 July 2016

HWW:Centre Stage

Upholding Freedom of Navigation in Troubled Waters And How The Chinese Stole The South China Sea

"Ignoring concurrent claims by other South East Asian nations bordering
the South China Sea, China had also militerised the entire area by
garrisoning troops on reefs and by conducting regular patrols of the
contested zone with naval and coast guard vessels. Foreign fishing
vessels have been detained, survey ships exploring for oil have been
harassed and even foreign warships have been warned to stay away from
occupied areas. Skirmishes flare up very once in a while and have lead
to fatalities, the most serious happened on Johnson South Reef in 1988
resulting in the death of 64 Vietnamese soldiers.

In the past two and a half years China had up the ante with the
commencement of massive land reclamation at multiple reefs in the
Spratly Islands creating artificial islands complete with infrastructure
for long term military and civilian occupation.

Faced with such naked aggression and shameless land / sea grabbing, most
of the smaller maritime nations around the SCS like Vietnam, Malaysia
and Brunei, with the exception of the Philippines, have so far managed
only muted responses. Nobody seems to have the courage to even verbally
challenge China on its errant behavior. This could be because China is
among the top trading partners for many of these countries and is also a
military super power on the rise."